Rebirth of Nations Before the Storm
by Inukomu334
Summary: This is the continuation of Uneasy Dawn. Trouble has been brewing in Caldia ever since the queen made her risky move, and that trouble looks like it will spill over into and spark a revolution in Viegald. Yue X Lenolora, and maybe Vaith X Mel.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle or any of the characters.

Note: I know I had a plot planned out for Cautious Morning and a few chapters of its tentative sequel done, but I'm scrapping my old plot and starting anew. The one I had planned was just too risky a venture, and didn't stay true to the attitude of the series. This is also a continuation of Uneasy Dawn, and I'm deleting Cautious Morning to avoid the thing in the Terms against "choose-you-own-ending" stories. However, if you want to read Cautious Morning (which I did finish; I just didn't publish), you can PM me and I'll attempt to figure out how the DocX system works ^.^

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"Well, I suppose it had to happen sometime..." Yue grumbled to himself, looking over Vaith's report as he sat at his desk. In truth, he was surprised it had taken so long to happen, but that didn't change how serious it was.

"What had to happen sometime?" Lenolora asked, putting her hand on Yue's shoulder, and Yue spun around, flinging her hand off his shoulder as he readied a seed of magic under the almost instinctive fear that she was there to cause him harm. But as soon as he recognized her, he let the seed of magic die away. Lenolora wouldn't harm him _physically_; she preferred psychological torture. That didn't mean he didn't need to discipline her somehow...

"What are you doing in my office!" Yue demanded, and Lenolora sighed, shaking her hair out. "This is the third time this week alone you've come in here without my permission!"

"I know, Yue. But it's past midnight. I don't want you overworking yourself. I came here in hopes you'd listen to what I have to say and look after yourself a little bit better and mind your health." Lenolora said, but Yue felt like challenging her. He was frustrated from the contents of the report, and needed someone to take it out on. Besides, there was an issue he wanted to address with her, and if he finally resolved it, that would be one less worry to keep him awake at night.

"You say that as if you actually care about me." He snapped, standing up from his desk, not liking the uncomfortable position of her standing over him, making it seem as though she were the one who held the authority, not him.

"I do actually care about you, Yue. I wouldn't have bothered putting my neck on the line for you and Merleawe earlier if I didn't." Lenolora said. "Why so suspicious, anyways?"

"I can't be so sure that wasn't just a ploy to win my trust and to deceive me, Lenolora. After all, I find it very suspicious that, after two encrypted letters to me, letters that were fairly easily decoded to reveal information very useful to Viegald, while having been under suspicion and tight security to begin with, or so you claim, that even after all that, you still haven't been executed."

"You say that like you wish I had been executed." Lenolora grumbled, and for an instant Yue felt conflicted. Lenolora would almost certainly get the wrong idea if he told her how he felt, and if he lied, he probably would have ended up breaking her heart, and she probably would have betrayed Viegald again.

"I don't want you executed, Lenolora. I like you better alive. But, that said, I also don't want you getting in my way, like you are now." Yue said. "You're in my office. No one is allowed in here without my permission, even palace security, even the cleaning services. I would _like_ to have you reported for this - you aren't entirely trusted not to be a Caldian spy, and a spy would be well-paid to enter this room - but I know better than to take legal action against you; you'd only lose your head, and, as I mentioned earlier, I like you better alive. But know that I can and will make your life miserable if you insist on disrespecting my authority and my privacy like this." Yue snapped. "And as for my health, I've been working this schedule for over a decade and it has yet to do me harm. Stop jumping at shadows."

"I'm not the one jumping at shadows here, Yue. You're suspicious of me without any good reaso-"

"Oh, I have _plenty_ of good reasons to be suspicious of you, Lenolora. Now get out of my office and let me work, _now_, and I just might forgive you for your trespasses thus far." Yue said, pointing at the door, and Lenolora rolled her eyes, then walked out the door.

"Just because you have the _authority_ to order me around like this doesn't mean you _should._" Lenolora said as she left. _Curse this, she always wants the last word, doesn't she?_

"If I didn't utilize whatever authority I have, Lenolora, I'd be nothing but the pawn of some pompous fool. Can you not see I cannot let my composure slip for even an instant? I do what I must." Yue growled at her receeding back.

"Then loosen up a little. Anyways, good-night, Yue." Lenolora said, just before she shut the door. _So she got the last word in anyways..._ Yue thought, glaring at the white door, before turning his attention back to the report on his desk. It seemed what had happened, though subtle, would make a big impact on international politics by revealing the true nature of the most hated man in the world.

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Note: And with that I conclude the first chapter of this new story. In case you're wondering about the time frame, I haven't decided when this occurs yet, but that should be revealed in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do now own Magical X Miracle

Note: N/A

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Yue did not want to believe what he read, but it was right there in front of him. Besides... Vaith was far too forthcoming to lie to him, let alone bluff about something like this. No. Yue knew it was real, and he would undoubtedly receive the news from other sources soon enough. After all, gossip traveled faster than real news, and Yue trusted Vaith to sort fact from rumour, so having Vaith catching all the gossip crossing the Caldian border (most likely, Yue was well aware, by frequenting the bars of the area and talking to the people there), discerning truth from falsehood, and giving Yue a head start to his planning for whatever would soon come over the border.

The Queen of Caldia had been murdered.

There had been whispers that the King of Caldia had arranged it, but Yue wasn't so sure. True, he didn't have much reason to doubt the gossip, but he didn't have much reason to believe it, either. He didn't much care who the perpetrator was, truthfully. The end result was all the same.

The Queen had been a good woman, shrewd and intelligent, not the reckless, ambitious man her husband was. She had understood that, though Caldia _could_ fight a war, and had the military power to win, there was a good chance morale would fall and lead to rebellion, since food was in short supply, and, because Caldia purchased a good deal of food from Viegald and her allies, if they were to attack Viegald, though the captured lands would quickly be pillaged for food, Viegald's allies might have stopped trade with Caldia, and the attack would have come to a standstill.

True enough, Caldia had wealth. There were rich veins of minerals that criss-crossed the landscape. Rivers, as abundant as the mineral veins, if not more so, provided relatively clean drinking water and enabled rapid trading. Caldia could utilize these natural resources to pay for what she lacked - food. Though the rivers provided some fish, a good deal of the land was rocky, or had soil that had been depleted by those who claimed to be farmers but knew nothing of how to sustain the life-giving soil. Yes, Caldia could still grow and harvest enough food to feed a decently large population. But not enough to feed a population that, according to their latest census, exceeded forty million.

Viegald, on the other had, was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Viegald had once had mineral wealth, but had long since depleted those resources. Instead, the land was carefully farmed by those who had been farmers for generations, and knew how to grow crops without damaging the soil. And Viegald, with the resulting surplus of food, could sell it for monetary wealth.

But where the Queen knew Caldia wasn't ready for war, ever since the economic downturn in the previous few months, the King of Caldia would charge recklessly ahead. And though he would lead his country to ruin, Yue didn't doubt Viegald would be laid to waste by the time Caldia crumbled.

Beyond that... Yue also knew that the Queen had been as good as protecting Lenolora. If the King were to be restored to full power (he had, for the previous three months, been under the close scrutiny of his wife, who had drastically limited his actions), well, he would probably immediately have Lenolora returned to Caldia. And Yue would lose his precious source of information.

While Lenolora didn't have the latest news in Caldian politics, she at least had a better understanding of the country's workings than did Yue, making her a valuable resource. Yue wasn't entirely sure she wasn't lying to him, but nothing she said seemed too far-fetched, and so far everything she had said had later been confirmed by other means.

And Yue was fairly certain the King of Caldia would exact personal revenge on him. After all, Yue knew he was the closest person to Lenolora, and since the King of Caldia wanted Lenolora to himself, he would be jealous of Yue, and probably have him tortured and killed. And, like any sane man, Yue did not want to be tortured and killed.

So, in every sense, the queen's death was very bad news. And Yue was fairly certain it was true; Vaith had even included clippings from a few Caldian newspapers that seemed to confirm her death.

"I really do not have time to deal with all of this..." Yue grumbled to himself. Getting the Council to take the actions needed to prepare thoroughly for impending war was like teaching iron to swim, and Yue was _not _a patient teacher. So, he would have to take action alone, perhaps enlisting the help of others in the Magical Department, and hope he wasn't kicked off the Council for such disregard to the proper bureaucratic system.

The next few weeks were going to be miserable.

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Note: Sorry for taking so long to update.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle

Note: I'll get to the romance later. It's just not plot-significant now.

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"Wow. Yue, you look really upset." Vaith commented, stepping into the conference room, and Yue looked up from a stack of papers - which were actually going to be a set of directions for the personnel Yue had selected to help him have the country prepare for war.

Magical Department workers could only do so much; there were many things outside of the Department's jurisdiction that needed to be done. For example, security around the palace needed to be tightened still further, in case the King of Caldia decided it would be easier to eliminate some of his high-ranking opponents before starting a war where they would be needed; taxes needed to be tightly regulated, and likely drastically changed to increase spending for the military once more (since less money had been needed since Merleawe had become Master Wizard and some of the danger had dissipated). For these reasons, Yue would need to utilize all his contacts and would need to come up with a seamless plan. He hadn't wanted to worry Merleawe, but had decided she had a right to know about what was going on, so she was reviewing his rough drafts in her office right then, as Yue worked on the final copy.

"Why are you here, Vaith? I thought you were ordered to remain at the border for at least another month!" Yue snapped, frustrated, and in his frustration, he dug his quill pen into the paper in front of him, leaving a large blot of ink on the paper, which he didn't notice.

"Things were getting weird and ugly there." Vaith began, but Yue cut him off before he could offer a further explanation.

"And you call that a valid excuse for abandoning your duty!" Yue demanded. "If things are getting out of hand, the presence of the military would do much more good than harm in restoring order! And yet you _left!_ At least tell me you redeemed yourself somewhat by leaving everyone else stationed there for the time being!"

"That I did. And please, hear me out. I know you're cranky and don't want to listen to me, but have a little faith in my ability to made decisions." Vaith said, and for an instant Yue felt a bit self-conscious for letting his temper get the better of him while _Vaith_ of all people was remaining calm.

"I'll give you two minutes to justify your behaviour." Yue said coldly, setting down his pen as he focused his attention on Vaith.

"Okay. Yue, when I said stuff is getting weird, I mean it's so weird I can't explain it in a letter; you'll think I'm crazy." _Don't worry, I already do._ Yue thought, then brushed aside that immature comment before it could find its way to his lips. "So I had to go talk to you in person."

"... Fair enough." Yue responded irritably, unable to think of anything better to say. "But if you came here to talk to me, you had best explain quickly so you can head out as fast as you can. And I'm busy enough as it is; I can't take any more time than absolutely necessary to talk to you." Vaith looked a bit hurt, but Yue wasn't worried about it.

"Okay. Well, on the Caldian side of the border, people have been pretty worried. It looks like the queen was better-like than the king. And, I mean, of course there are a few teenagers who like bothering the soldiers, but thank God for the border patrol, because they take care of minor pests like that. And more of Caldia's military has been stationed at the border, and it's just... it's tense, you know?"

"You came all the way to tell me this...?" Yue asked, beginning to give up hope in Vaith's competence. It wasn't any use being angry anymore if Vaith just wouldn't see reason. And, of course, being tired to begin with, he gave up quickly.

"No. You'd bite my head off if that was all I had to report. The thing is, that was just to set the mood. 'Cause what I've said so far is tense, not weird. The weird part is that some of the magic in the area seems to be going haywire. Like, it's as if people can't control their own magic. Most of the weirdness is minor, but... it was like, in some places, reality was being distorted."

"Once again, you came all this way just to tell me that?" Yue demanded. "People tend to lose control of their magic when under extreme stress, especially if they haven't had proper training. If those at the border are as tense as you say, of course strange magical phenomena are going to happen! You know this, Vaith. Not only do you use magic yourself, you have been around Slythfarn and I long enough to pick up on these things. True, it's rare for someone with magic powerful enough to cause warps in reality to be on the brink of losing control - such persons usually receive careful training from an early age - but it's not unheard of. You should have simply notified the local branch of the Magical Department to take care of it; they ought to be able to handle it."

"Umm... well... Yue, trust me, I would have, but... most of those who seem to be having trouble are the ones _in_ the Magical Department." Vaith said, and for about a tenth of a millisecond, Yue wanted to cry. _Why is everything happening _now!Yue thought. _Just when it seems we have a toehold on peace and quiet, some new calamity comes up!_ And then he brushed that thought away. _Self-pity is not the answer. Nothing is perfect; work never ends. At the very least, I'll never grow bored._ And then Yue looked down to see the ink blot on his paper. Thankfully, he had left the other pages to the side waiting for the ink to dry, so only one sheet was ruined, but he had been almost done with that one ruined sheet. And Yue really didn't want to write anymore. He had been writing from 3:00 AM until 10:00 PM with only short breaks for breakfast and dinner (no meetings or social appointments had been scheduled that day), and both his wrists were sore from having written so much (he tended to switch hands when one got tired, and had been doing that for long enough that he could write about equally well with both hands). That ruined sheet was the final straw.

And then, frustrated, overworked, overtired, and feeling hopeless, Yue made two very big mistakes in just under a minute.

"Then go tell Lecto to take care of it. I have enough on my plate as it is." He snapped. "And since I doubt you'll leave me alone, I suppose I'll have to leave myself." Yue stood up, leaving the still-unfinished documents behind him, as he walked past Vaith on his way up the stairs. "Good-night." Yue muttered, as he stepped onto the first stair.

But Vaith could have compensated for Yue's mistakes. Unfortunately, as Vaith was no prophet, he had no idea that the mistakes had been made, and had no idea of the horrible things that would come about as a result of Yue's actions. All Vaith realized was that Yue seemed much more depressed than usual, and chalked it up to Yue working too hard.

"Huh. I'm pretty tired, myself." Vaith told himself, rubbing his eyes. He was tired from two long days of traveling, and only having arrived at the palace within the half hour. "Well, I'm going to bed." He told no one, then turned out the small magical lamp on the table, and he, too, walked up the stairs, leaving the documents behind him.

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Note: I'm afraid I overdid the foreshadowing at the end. I guess I left enough clues for readers to make educated guesses on what will happen next chapter (or maybe a few chapters. It may take me that long to get through what I've planned).


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle

Note: I've been worried I've been turning Merleawe, Lenolora, and Yue into Possession Sues. I should be careful, so they don't get any more Mary Sue-ish.

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"Mel?" Vaith asked, stepping into her office. He noticed that she looked pretty tired, and hard dark circles under her eyes. Vaith wondered just how hard she had been working; after a good night's sleep, Vaith was feeling completely recovered. Well, physically. The instant he had gone down to the conference room, his mood had fallen.

"Can't you see she's busy?" Fern asked. Vaith hadn't noticed him standing next to Merleawe's desk.

"Fern, it's no trouble having Vaith here. I can't turn away a friend in need." Merleawe said, putting away the papers on her desk. "Anyways, Vaith, why are you here?"

"Uh... I guess I'm here on business..." Vaith said.

"But don't you usually see Yue first about business things? Why are you bothering Mel when Yue can take care of whatever it is?" Fern asked, and Vaith sighed. Everyone seemed grumpier than usual.

"Look, I would have gone to Yue, but that's exactly what this is about. I want to tell him what I found, but I can't find him. And if I can't find him, then I can't tell him."

"And you're here to bother Mel _why?_" Fern asked.

"Fern, please. Give Vaith a chance to explain things."

"I was just wondering if you had seen him. I mean, I'd imagine he's okay. True, he rarely - and by rarely, I mean about once every five years - misses an appointment without warning or a very good reason, but he was tired and cranky enough that I suppose it's possible he overslept. Even so, I'm hoping he's just been avoiding me, because that way I won't have to search for him and risk ticking him off still further. He has _not_ been in a good mood lately."

"Yeah, well, who has?" Fern asked. "And, no, I haven't seen him. So you might as well leave, since there's nothing here." And then Fern continued. "It's been three months, Vaith. And some stuff has changed. For the most part, we just leave Yue to his own devices. I don't want to deal with him anymore, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. Besides, he has Lenolora to keep him company."

"What? Did our group split up without me noticing?" Vaith asked, as Merleawe, knowing now that the conversation was not one she needed to pay attention to, returned to her work. "Was there a fight or something?"

"Not really. It's just that I don't like that Lenolora woman, and since she's rarely more than fifty feet away from Yue, I've been avoiding him to avoid the risk of running into her. Beyond that, Yue is _always_ a jerk whenever Lenolora has been bothering him - which is often - so I wouldn't particularly want to talk to him anyways."

"So... Lenolora basically does nothing but stalk Yue?"

"Pretty much."

"And he hasn't killed her?"

"Not yet."

"So he likes her."

"I guess." Fern shrugged. "Anyways, I'm pretty sure she survives by mooching food off Glenn - that man is too kind for his own good - since she hasn't found work."

"That must be a blow to her pride."

"I don't know. She never makes sense. But stop wasting time here, Vaith. And if you still want to look for Yue, ask Lenolora. If she's stalking him, then she probably knows where he is."

"You have a point." Vaith said. "Well, I'm on my way." Vaith turned around and left the office, and Fern turned to Merleawe.

"So... Mel. Are you done sorting through those roughs yet?" He asked, and Merleawe shook her head. She seemed a little bit upset, Fern noticed. "What's eating you?"

"Lecto has never been good at handling stress. He's been looking into something going on in the border town of Kreshmael, but whatever he found, it's really affected him a lot. He's shut himself in his room and he won't come out... I'm worried about him."

"Well, don't. You have enough to worry about yourself." Fern said. "Besides... it's not like he's ever really been nice to you. Why worry about him?"

"You have a point, but... I still don't like knowing that someone close to me is suffering."

"You're too idealistic. But I guess that's what makes you, you. Besides... without you and your idealism, I'm willing to bet we would be at war now, so thanks again for that."

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Note: I apologize for the abrupt ending.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle

Note: I had a scary dream pertaining to this fic. Maybe I'll write it in later as part of the plot...

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"You know, I still can't believe you overslept." Lenolora told Yue, who was sitting at his desk and refusing to make eye contact with her. Lenolora imagined that was because he was trying to keep a handle on his temper. After all, she had done several things that day to annoy him.

First of all, she had barged into his room upon hearing he was "missing," then dragged him out his door, still half-asleep and still wearing his nightclothes. Because he was still-half asleep, it appeared he hadn't recoginzed her, because he had put her under a temporary paralysis spell (she made a mental note to _not_ wake him up if he ever happened to oversleep again). After all, no matter how much Lenolora irked him, Yue never attacked her. But since they had both been at fault - Lenolora for invading Yue's privacy; Yue for attacking Lenolora - they had agreed to forget about it and call it even.

Second, Lenolora had told _everyone_ in the conference room about Yue's failure to wake up on time. Vaith and Fern had laughed at him; Yue had blamed Lenolora for that humiliation after yelling at Vaith and Fern for a while. And she kept reminding him about that.

Third, Lenolora had teased Yue for losing the documents in the conference room. He had immediately grown suspicious of her, expressing his concern that she was perhaps still a Caldian spy, but Lenolora knew he didn't really think she was. After all, if he thought so, why would he have warned her of his suspicions?

Fourth, she was in his office. Again. Without his permission. Again. But, as Lenolora expected, Yue didn't have the heart to follow through with his earlier threat of making her life miserable. After all, she knew he had a soft spot for her, he just wasn't keen on admitting it. Sure, they fought, but most of it was just banter. He'd probably throw her out at any time, but he wouldn't bother taking the time and energy to manipulate others to make her miserable.

And, fifth and finally, she was sitting on his desk. She knew it was rude. It was rude to sit on any working area, be it a table or a desk. As a matter of fact, it was rude to place one's buttocks anywhere other than a chair or couch. And Lenolora knew that. She just figured that she would see just how much disrespect Yue could take before he finally lost his temper. Yue hadn't said anything since she had sat down; she imagined that was because if he said anything, it would consist mainly of swear words. But it would be nice to watch Yue lose his temper and, in doing so, act like a normal human being with normal emotions and not a stern, professional robot.

"Why..." Yue began, his voice almost a growl, "Are you doing this? Are you _trying_ to do everything you possibly can to irritate me?" Lenolora faltered for a moment. She wanted to see Yue lose his temper, but she did _not_ want to see him lose control completely and hurt her. And he seemed angry enough that there was a definite possibility he would attack her. "I have enough _bullshit_ coming at me from every angle without you getting in my way as well. Why must you _always_ make my life that much more _difficult_?" _Well, when put on the spot like this, I guess all I can do is tell the truth..._ Lenolora thought.

"Yeah, I'm trying to piss you off. You need to _live_ a little, Yue. And by _live,_ I mean 'display a greater range of emotions than neutral to slightly grumpy.' I figure that if you get angry enough, you'll realize that you've all but thrown aside your emotions - all but thrown aside your _humanity_ - for your work." Lenolora said, and Yue sighed heavily.

"So that's how it is." He said. "Lenolora, we've been over this. I'm content with how I am, and I don't need you sticking your nose into my business in some vague and irrational attempt to 'help' me. Why don't you work on looking after yourself? I have enough to do on my own; every time you show up you just distract me from my work, and I resent it. Why don't you get yourself a job so you won't be such a bother? _That_ way you can help me. Besides, do you really think you can live by begging food and shelter off Glenn?" Lenolora was surprised. Yue seemed to have regained all self-control throughout that short monologue. Maybe annoying him wasn't the best way to get him to open up... but then, he was being open with her right now, wasn't he?

"Hmph! Unlike _you_, Glenn is nice to everyone he meets, and he seems to take great joy in helping others. And come on, Yue. You know as well as I do that no one would hire me.

"A job in the palace is out of the question, seeing as how I'm still considered Caldian, by some even a Caldian spy. Even if I did get hired, whose ass would be on the chopping block? Yours. After all, just about everyone assumes you control a lot that goes on here by manipulating people, and most think you're the only one in the palace who would bother helping me with anything.

"I can't go into any trades in the city, either. I just don't have much experience outside of the military chain of command and palace life, skills that are only really applicable in the jobs I just said I will never be able to have. Sure, fine. I can clean house, and I can cook a little bit, but it's not as if I'm skilled enough to be a maid or a chef, and to learn any other skills would take months to years.

_You can say that again..._ Yue thought. _Our Home Ec classes were disastrous._

"Granted, I used to help out my family with healing sometimes. But that was twenty-five years ago. And I'm not certified to be a healer, no matter how much I've trained, and I doubt anyone would bother paying for me to go to classes for certification.

"And as for any _other_ jobs... well, let's just say I'm no longer in the bloom of youth." Lenolora said, blushing slightly, and Yue glanced at her.

"You had me fooled. Given your level of maturity, I would have assumed you're still a teenager." Yue snapped, not wanting to discuss the subject Lenolora had begun to enter. He did _not_ want to deal with that part of society, and was disgusted that Lenolora had gone so far as to even _consider_ a "night" job. "Anyways. Stop rambling on about yourself. You're being even more of a nuisance now than you were before. And leave me alone. I have too much to do and not enough time." Yue said, standing up and gesturing to the door. "Leave. I'll talk to you again if and when I have spare time. And I would advise you to be wary of where you tread. You know as well as I do that there are those out there who want you dead. And, irritating as you are, I still prefer you alive." He snapped, and Lenolora shook her head, smiling slighty, as she slid off the desk and out ther door.

_Someday, Yue, you will want to have me around..._ She thought, smirking.

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Note: And that's the end of the chapter. I got hung up experimenting with a few other fics, so sorry I took so long to update.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle

Note: I think I've given Yue about the right mix of Tsun and Dere to make him in-character for this scene. Well, at least I hope I have. Enjoy.

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"Lecto?" Yue called, knocking at the younger man's door, but he received no response. He sighed. _Why am I doing this? I have much more productive things I could be doing right now other than trying to convince Lecto to show up for work._ "Lecto?" He asked, growing irritated. He had been standing outside Lecto's door for about two minutes, but Lecto still hadn't given any response. Yue was worried for a moment that Lecto had run away or made an attempt on his life, but also knew that Lecto wouldn't do either of those things without at least some notice. "Lecto!"

"Mr. Yue?" Lecto asked, sounding as if he had been crying. Yue heard footsteps inside the room, and then the door opened just enough for Yue to recognize Lecto standing behind the door, although he wasn't wearing his uniform and his hair was loose and unkempt. "I... I'm sorry to trouble you, sir, it's just..."

"Stop making excuses and get back to work." Yue snapped. "We need all the help we can get right now." He said, knowing that Lecto would listen to him. That was why Yue had gone to get Lecto himself; Lecto would unquestioningly obey him, and would not give anyone else the same respect. Yes, this unquestioning obedience was irritating sometimes, but it was good to have at least one person with unwavering loyalty to him.

Still, Lecto looked a bit hurt, and Yue felt a slight pang. He had forgotten that Lecto was upset enough to skip work to begin with; yelling at him would only make things worse. So Yue had no choice but to backtrack slightly in what he had said and to try again, this time being more polite and courteous, even though that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Anyways. I understand you're upset, given as this is the first time you've ignored your duties without previous warning, and if it's something serious enough to affect you this way, I need to know as well so I can deal with it." Yue said, and Lecto faltered for a moment, seeming about to shut the door completely.

"It... it's really nothing that concerns you, sir..." Lecto murmured, and Yue sighed irritably. _Then it's probably a personal issue. I strongly dislike dealing with personal issues, and, if possible, I hate dealing with others' personal issues even more. Even so, this must be taken care of if I want Lecto helping me with the problems that have come up recently._

"If whatever it is is causing my employees to miss work exactly when they are needed most, then it _is_ my business." Yue half-lied, and Lecto gave a brief, hopeful smile, one that quickly turned into a look of regret.

"Sir... I... I've just received news from General Vaith... there was some sort of magical explosion at the border... and my younger sister, her husband, and their infant child were all killed. She... she was one of the few people in my family I ever was close to..." Lecto said, and seemed as if he were about to say more, but Yue cut him off.

"Then that is indeed a tragedy. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about it. What sense is there dwelling on things in the past we could have done nothing to change? And even if you could have done something about it, what's done is done. Just reflect on any mistakes so you don't make them again." Yue explained, but at the same time he also felt regretful. If only he hadn't been so careless, if only for that one moment, the situation wouldn't have been quite so dire. If Yue hadn't told Vaith to charge Lecto with the situation at the border, Lecto wouldn't have found out about his family tragedy so soon and wouldn't have locked himself in his room, just when Yue needed him to correct Yue's second mistake - leaving the documents unattended. He _needed_ them returned; if they had gotten into the wrong hands, he would need to come up with an entirely different set of plans for preparing the country so the enemy wouldn't be able to predict Viegald's every move. Unfortunately, that would take days to weeks, even were it possible, something Yue doubted. And everyone but Lecto had already been assigned some task that would take up all of his or her attention.

"I... I'm sorry... I'll get ready..." Lecto said heavily, closing the door.

"Lecto." Yue spoke up, realizing that Lecto didn't need to be in his office for Yue to give him his mission. Yue cast a barrier around himself so no one would hear what he had to tell Lecto. "I need you to locate my plans. I last saw them on the conference room table, two nights ago. Start with Vaith; he might know something. I know they will be difficult to find, but I need someone to take care of that duty. You're the only one I can entrust this mission to." Yue said, waiting for Lecto to give some indication he had heard before letting down the barrier.

"I... of... of course!" Lecto said excitedly, then added, "Yes, sir. I will put in my all."

"Good. I expect nothing less of you." Yue replied, then let down the barrier. "I trust I'll see you back at your regular schedule tomorrow." He said, then walked down the hallway, trying to think of what was next on his agenda.

Unfortunately, he was so caught up in trying to remember, he didn't give proper attention to his surroundings, and didn't realize that ahead of him was a flight of stairs. Expecting his foot to land on level ground, Yue was not prepared for the next step he took to take him one stair level down, and he tripped. He tried to break his fall, but couldn't find anything to hold onto, and by reaching for a nonexistent grip, he threw himself further off balance, and eventually just ended up tumbling down the staircase, before finally stopping on the landing.

He was disinclined to move, even though he knew he wasn't badly hurt and so wouldn't do himself any harm by getting up and moving about. _I can't believe I tripped..._ He thought, sighing heavily. _This is simply not turning out to be a good week for me..._ _one crisis, one humiliation after another._ And, worn out from dealing with said crises and humiliations, Yue wanted little more than to sleep, not caring he was blocking the primary stairway between the second and third floors of the palace.

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Note: N/A


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle

Note: N/A

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"Yue!" Merleawe called, running over to him. She had been on her way down to attend a Council meeting, when she had noticed someone collapsed on the landing on the staircase. Once she had gotten down about half of the first flight of stairs, she had recognized her friend, and had rushed to his aid. "Yue, are you all right?" She asked, concerned. To her relief, Yue picked his head up and then got to his hands and knees. Merleawe noticed that his glasses were a few inches away from him, one of the hinges broken, with either a crack or a scratch running across the right lens.

"Merleawe?" He asked, turning to look at her. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Even though he said he was fine, Merleawe noticed a laceration in front of his right ear that looked pretty bad until Merleawe remembered that head injuries tended to bleed a lot and weren't necessarily as severe as they looked. But the fact that he was hurt, even just a little bit, worried her. Not only was Yue her friend, he was also one of the hardest-working and most valuable members of the Magical Department.

"What happened to you?" She asked, wondering if he had gotten into a fight of some sort. Not many people were willing to stand up to Yue, but that didn't mean he was well-liked, so there was always a possibility someone would decide to pick a fight with him.

"Well..." Yue began, "I tripped." He admitted grudgingly, and Merleawe felt a bit relieved. At least someone hadn't tried to hurt him; he had just accidentally gotten hurt himself. It was then that Yue, likely following Merleawe's gaze, noticed the wound, and put his hand over it, frowning slightly.

"You say you're all right, but that looks like it might be serious. You should probably have a doctor take a look at that." Merleawe suggested, but Yue shook his head, and Merleawe noticed a faint magical glow around his hand. _He's probably trying to heal it himself, even though he knows as well as I do that magic cannot heal very well by itself without herbs or crystals._ She thought.

"It's not serious. As I said earlier, don't worry about me." Yue said, reaching for his glasses, then critically surveying the scratch on the lens before putting them on. "Anyways, there's no sense in wasting your time here. You should probably get to the meeting. I'll be there in a little while." He said, and Merleawe nodded. After all, there was no reason to worry about him. He could take care of himself; he was a mature, responsible adult and had been so when she herself was still a child.

Besides, Merleawe had issues of her own to worry about. It was beginning to look like both Caldia and Vilatta were eying Viegald as a possible target in what Merleawe hoped wouldn't come to a full-scale war. True, Merleawe had worked closely with the King of Vilatta in her years of missionary work, but the King of Vilatta had recently passed away and his daughter had taken the throne. True, she seemed to be a vain and cruel young woman, but Merleawe doubted, given the amount of sexism in Vilatta, as well as the very nature of government itself, that she was the sole driving force behind the aggressive attitude. Merleawe had just sent Vaith down to Vilatta's border with Viegald in hopes that his presence would help show Viegald as not as weak as Vilatta may have thought, but it would be weeks before she would learn if that strategy had been successful.

She had also reviewed Yue's plans, and though she had found them to be good in the case of preparing from an invasion from Caldia, with his plan, the southern border would have been left all but undefended. Merleawe knew Yue was aware of that flaw in his plan, but there had been no way around it; Viegald only had so much military strength.

So Viegald was being squeezed from both the south and the west. Merleawe doubted there would be much that could be done unless Viegald had the wholehearted support of her northern neighbor (which Merleawe had regrettably forgotten the name of). However, that nation was a democracy, and democracies tended to be pushy about spreading their system of government. Of course, Merleawe agreed that democracy was the fairest system of government, but Viegald had been a monarchy for as long as anyone could remember, and, as far as she knew, no one in Viegald wanted to change, especially since they had such a magnanimous king. And from the outside, the Council probably didn't look half bad either.

On that note, Merleawe was _not_ looking forward to the Council meeting. Yes, Merleawe was patient. Yes, Merleawe was kind. But she was _not _about to babysit men in their fifties through seventies who insisted upon acting like jealous schoolchildren. True, recently one of the ministers had resigned due to ill health and passed his position on to his son, a man of about forty, but he wasn't any better than his father had been.

However, since everyone seemed to sense the approaching danger, the meetings had been going much more smoothly of late, with everyone contributing ideas on how to help the nation best prepare, but still no one could agree on anything, making each meeting frustrating and almost always extending past the time set for it to end.

But, then, there wasn't much Merleawe could do but keep trying to help others, to pray to God, and to hope for the best.

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Note: I just realized I forgot to spellcheck chapter 5. So, if anyone finds any mistakes, please feel free to let me know and I'll correct them.


	8. Chapter 8

Note: Well, it's chapter 8, and I suppose it's time for more unlikely events, but once again I have dug the characters into a pretty large mess, and this is the only way I can patch things through to the ending I want without first coming up with an entirely different plot than the one I had planned.

Also, beyond the first two paragraphs,** this chapter demands to be read slowly**!

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Lenolora sighed to herself. Yue's behaviour was becoming more and more unlike him. One day he had left sensitive documents out in the open (upon questioning from one of his aides, some young man with prematurely gray hair, Lenolora had revealed all she knew - she saw, around five AM the day after the documents had gone missing, someone in a guard uniform carrying a stack of papers running quickly. The papers were most likely not the documents that were being looked for, but it was all the knew). The next day he had overslept. The day after that he had a.) tripped and fallen down a flight of stairs and b.) been late for a Council meeting. And Lenolora knew - well, she hoped - that she wasn't the only one worried about him. She supposed he was just stressed and overtired and that was leading him to make mistakes, and she felt a little bit guilty about having bothered him so much.

But she didn't feel guilty enough that she wasn't once more sitting in his office without his permission. And he would be coming in as soon as he got out of that Council meeting. He'd probably be mad. He'd probably throw her out. But at least she'd have another chance to talk to him. Maybe he was hoping to see her, hoping to discuss the same thing she was. It was a big issue after all, and Yue had probably heard about it.

The whole palace had probably heard about it. Idiot noisy messenger. Lenolora had wanted to punch him, but given the nature of the message that would have just gotten her thrown out of the palace, and not just the palace, likely the country of Viegald in general.

Not that being exiled from Viegald would matter, given what she had been instructed to do.

The door began to open. Lenolora offhandedly wondered which rude words Yue would use towards her. But then, Yue wasn't one for swearing at people. He'd swear at _things,_ but he preferred to come up with his own (and most often ineffective) insults for people.

But, to Lenolora's surprise, as Yue opened up the door and walked into the room, he didn't so much as meet her eyes for more than an instant before looking down in defeat. He closed the door behind him, and slowly walked over to his desk. Lenolora noticed that he was limping slightly, but he didn't seem badly hurt and had probably just twisted his ankle when he had tripped.

He said nothing, until he was standing behind the chair she occupied, the only one in the office.

"Move." He ordered, his voice a low growl, and Lenolora obeyed. There was no sense in irritating him further; with his temper, after all that had happened, he would probably completely snap and maybe kill her if she annoyed him any more. Lenolora walked out of the way to stand in the far corner of the room as Yue sat down, and they remained that way for several minutes of silence.

_So he's going for the silent treatment, eh? Either that or he's just trying to figure out the best way to address the issue._

"Well, if your goal was to uproot every dream I ever had of a successful, respectable life, then I suppose you succeeded." Yue grumbled after a minute or two more, then fell silent again.

"That was never my intent." Lenolora replied, after a long pause, wondering if she would just annoy Yue further if she opened her mouth, but the need to express the truth had trumped her hesitation. She knew she had made a mistake as soon as she had said it; his next words sent shivers down her spine.

"Right now, I would like nothing more than to silence your deceitful voice forever." Yue growled, looking up just enough to glare at her over the top of his glasses, and Lenolora could see nothing but barely contained fury in his eyes, and Lenolora noticed that he seemed to be subconsciously drawing on the magic around him, as his magically powered lamp dimmed slightly. But he soon looked down again, and continued. "However, that would do no one any good. Killing you would only bring the nation to war, and would do nothing to help my personal situation." Lenolora nodded slowly, like some misbehaving child being called before an authority figure, as she sheepishly glanced down at the floor. In any other circumstances, she would not have allowed Yue to boss her around, but this time he had every right to be mad at her, and she really didn't want to talk back to him when she knew he wanted to kill her. She barely refrained from laughing bitterly to herself - all she had wanted was to help out the man she loved, _without_ letting him be the boss of her, but now she had ended up doing the exact opposite. She had indirectly all but sentenced Yue to defamation and quite possibly death, while in those two weeks before they would be called to their judgment from the King of Caldia, she found she lacked the strength or determination to so much as say one more word in her defense.

She felt like such a failure. She wanted to cry, but Yue would just misunderstand, thinking it was some deceitful ploy to win his sympathy, and would grow even angrier at her.

"I don't wish to speak of this any more. We'll have plenty of time to discuss this on the path to Caldia's capitol. Go and pack up whatever you actually own now. I'll get ready as well. But know that just because I do not wish to talk about this does not mean I forgive you for what you have done to me and to Viegald." Yue said, then stood up, and, without another word, walked across the room and slammed the door behind him as he left.

And that was when Lenolora allowed herself to cry; tears of regret, tears of frustration, tears of indignation, and tears of shame from having allowed herself to cry.

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Note: The next chapter will explain what has happened here, as well as the aftermath of the conversation from Yue's POV.

And it's probably too late, but things are only going to get more depressing from here on out before I finally resolve everything.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Magical X Miracle.

Note: This is Yue's POV about the whole thing. I apologize if the chapter is disjointed; I'm kind of stressed right now and I rarely write well when I'm stressed.

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_His Imperial Majesty, the only true and rightful King of Caldia and her protectorates and territories, requests the attention of a certain former General Lenolora of Caldia, as well as the obedience of Minister Yue Alistelaford._

_His Majesty has retracted his late wife's previous, foolish order to have General Lenolora exiled from Caldia, and demands she be returned to her proper place at Caldia's palace, accompanied by the possible spy, Mr. Alistelaford, so that he might be dealt with accordingly._

_The two aforementioned persons must report to the gates of Caldia's capitol within three weeks from this date: August 9th, 785 W.E.. If said persons fail to appear at the appointed time, Caldia will have no choice but to assume Viegald is harboring them and therefore aiding and abetting at least one criminal. In the result of such a delay, there will be no acceptable path open to Caldia but to deploy her military forces into Viegald in hopes of finding the two persons..._

Yue stopped reading and sighed, then crumpled up the note and threw it into the trashcan next to the desk in his room. He had the message all but memorized, anyways. There was no sense in keeping the paper around.

The style was pretentious and roundabout, and Yue found two loopholes in the part about the date alone ("two aforementioned persons" when three people had been mentioned; "within three weeks" could mean from three weeks before to three weeks after). It bothered him that he could do nothing about those loopholes - pointing out flaws in the wording would only get him into more trouble.

In fact, it just bothered him that he could do nothing about his dismal situation. Though the note hadn't stated it explicitly, it had _implied_ that Yue was a criminal, and had also _implied_ that he was working with Lenolora, who was _implied_ to still be working for Caldia, which _implied_ Yue was a criminal in both Caldia and Viegald.

Gossip would undoubtedly go wild.

And, since he would probably be in Caldia sooner rather than later, there was nothing at all he could do about it.

And he knew it wasn't fair of him to blame Lenolora; Lenolora was no more at fault for this mess than Yue was with the entire business with Lecto and the documents. Lenolora had just made a mistake, Yue shouldn't have been blaming her for everything when the King of Caldia was truly the one at fault. But he was frustrated, and needed to take his frustration out on someone, and that someone happened to be Lenolora.

Of course, since he doubted he'd be reutrning to Viegald - with a pang he realized anew that there was a good possibility he would be put to death or imprisoned for life - he would need to make sure that everything would run smoothly in his absence.

It was customary, when resigning, to pass on one's position to one's heir. Yue had no children, so he wouldn't be able to take that path. And while he _could _have made Lecto his successor in the Magical Department, Council positions were hereditary. So he was going to need to have one of his younger siblings succeed him.

Yue had four younger brothers, and he would need to choose one of them. It would be a hard choice; he hated all of them, and the feeling was mutual. However, it was wrong to appoint someone to a government position because of like or dislike, and Yue silently reprimanded himself for almost having taken that shortcut.

Unfortunately, he did not consider any one of his brothers worthy of the position. True, the second-youngest brother, Aaron, had a sharp intellect and respect for his superiors, but Aaron could also be very prejudiced and tended to be a bit of a womanizer (Yue imagined the latter flaw would disappear if and when Aaron found himself a loving wife). But, then, other than Aaron, none of the brothers had any useful redeeming qualities at all.

So Yue would have to pass the position on to Aaron. After all, though he could have gone up the family tree, his father had already passed the position on to him in the first place and probably didn't want it back.

And everything was happening so suddenly! Just a week ago, yes, Yue had had his fair share of problems to deal with, but nothing of this scale! He wasn't ready to deal with everything, but he didn't have much choice.

He would have to get packed, and try not to think about what was going on. If he avoided thinking about it, then maybe, in a sense, it wasn't real.

He certainly hoped so.

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Note: I've been hesitant to publish chapters 8 and 9, since once they're published, there is no going back. And now I'll hesitate again, since there are two paths after this I'm going to need to choose between.


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